The Euro-Mediterranean partnership: a participatory demonstration project to fight desertification in Morocco and Tunisia

A participatory demonstration project on desertification mitigation and rural development has been launched in Northern Africa under SMAP Programme (Short and Medium-term priority environmental Action Programme) financed by the European Union. The project, whose title is "Demonstration Project on Strategies to Combct Desertification in Arid Lands with Direct Involvement of Local Agro-pastoral Communities in North Ajrica ". is carried out in sensitive regions in Morocco and Tunisia with the coordination of the NRD of the University of Sassari (Italy) and the partnership of the Agriculture Ministries of Morocco and Tunisia. The project involves restoration of vegetation cover with drought resistant perennial forage species (Opunti, Atriplex, Acaci, etc.) in highly degraded Rangelands, to mitigate desertification processes and to improve rangelands productivity. The areas are located in regions characterised by rural poverty, food dependency and land abandoning: here urgent measures are needed to promote optimisation of resource management in view of a sustainable development. This is a concrete demonstration project supported by the direct involvement of local communities. Successful actions already carried out in this field by the participants of the project as well as by other Mediterranean Countries. has been taken into Account, re-elaborated and exploited thus promoting South / South co-operation and exchange of knowledge. Participation of all actors and especially of local communities is the key point in all the phases of the project and is strengthened by means of dissemination and sensitisation campaigns and by training courses. Only if, at the end of the project, all actors will own/share all choices made and the technology used, will interventions be "sustainable"

<i>Structores amphitheatri</i>: a proposito dell’anfiteatro di <i>Forum Traiani</i> (<i>Sardinia</i>)

Gli structores, talora richiamati nella documentazione epigrafica, coordinano le maestranze e le forniture di materiali e di servizi necessari alla realizzazione del progetto edilizio di un architectus, in particolare per quelle strutture monumentali destinate all’ornatus civitatis, ma anche ad una precisa funzionalità nell’ambito delle direttrici urbanologiche della città romana. Si vuole proporre in questa sede un’analisi ricostruttiva dei cantieri edilizi, con il relativo personale tecnico, attivati rispettivamente in funzione della costruzione e dell’ampliamento del secondo edificio per gli spettacoli della Sardinia, per le sue dimensioni, l’anfiteatro di Forum Traiani, fatto oggetto di scavo archeologico fra i mesi di febbraio e settembre 2008, a cura della Soprintendenza archeologica della Sardegna in collaborazione con l’Università degli Studi di Sassari, il Comune di Fordongianus e la Casa Circondariale di Oristano

Interaction between dietary and lifestyle risk factors and N-Acetyltransferase polymorphisms in B-Cell lymphoma etiology

Background: Gene-environment interactions are suggested to play a role in lymphomagenesis. Methods: We tested the interaction between the NAT1/NAT2 phenotype, as inferred by the respective genotypes, and exposure to dietary and lifestyle risk factors, in 199 incident lymphoma cases and 188 population controls. We used unconditional logistic regression to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval for lymphoma (all subtypes combined) and B cell lymphoma, associated to the rapid NAT1 phenotype and to the intermediate and slow NAT2 phenotype, and to the estimated dietary intake of heterocyclic amines and folate, current smoking, coffee, and use of permanent hair dyes, as well as the respective interaction terms. We adjusted the ORs by age, gender, and education, and we used the likelihood ratio test to test the interaction between the NAT1, NAT2 phenotype and the dietary and lifestyle variables. Results: We observed an increase in risk of lymphoma (all subtypes combined) and B-cell lymphoma in particular associated with the estimated above median dietary intake of heterocyclic amines (OR = 4.2, 95%CI 1.2 – 14.8) and folate (OR = 4.1, 95%CI 0.7 – 22.4) among subjects with the NAT1 rapid acetylator phenotype, but not independent on the NAT1 phenotype. The test for interaction was significant for heterocyclic amines, but not for folate (p for interaction = 0.026 and 0.076 respectively). Ever use of permanent hair dyes was associated with an elevated risk independent on the NAT1, NAT2 phenotypes; risk decreased to null among intermediate and slow NAT1 acetylators (p for interaction = 0.010). Conclusions: Our results suggest that NAT1, NAT2 polymorphisms interact with dietary and lifestyle exposures in modulating risk of lymphoma and particularly B-cell lymphoma

Occupational exposure to organic dust and risk of lymphoma subtypes in the EPILYMPH case-control study

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the risk of lymphoma and its major subtypes in relation to occupational exposure to specific organic dusts. Methods: We explored the association in 1853 cases and 1997 controls who participated in the EpiLymph case–control study, conducted in six European countries in 1998–2004. Based on expert assessment of lifetime occupational exposures, we calculated the risk of the major lymphoma subtypes associated with exposure to six specific organic dusts, namely, flour, hardwood, softwood, natural textile, synthetic textile, and leather, and two generic (any types) groups: wood and textile dusts. Risk was predicted with unconditional regression modeling, adjusted by age, gender, study center, and education. Results: We observed a 2.1-fold increase in risk of follicular lymphoma associated with ever exposure to leather dust [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–4.20]. After excluding subjects who ever worked in a farm or had ever been exposed to solvents, risk of B-cell lymphoma was elevated in relation to ever exposure to leather dust [odd ratio (OR) 2.2, 95% CI 1.00–4.78], but it was not supported by increasing trends with the exposure metrics. Risk of Hodgkin lymphoma was elevated (OR 2.0, 95% CI 0.95–4.30) for exposure to textile dust, with consistent upward trends by cumulative exposure and three independent exposure metrics combined (P=0.023, and P=0.0068, respectively). Conclusions: Future, larger studies might provide further insights into the nature of the association we observed between exposure to textile dust and risk of Hodgkin lymphoma

Hippocampal Automatic Recognition and 3D Segmentation Based on Active Appearance Model in Brain MR Images for Early Diagnosis ofAlzheimer's Disease

目的:研究磁共振(MAgnETIC rESOnAnCE,Mr)脑图像中海马的自动分割方法及海马的形态学分析方法,为阿尔茨海默病(AlzHEIMEr'S dISEASE,Ad)的早期诊断提供依据。方法:对20例Ad患者和60名正常对照者行MrI T1 WI 3d容积扫描,建立海马的三维主动表观模型,并以此模型对每个个体脑部磁共振图像上的海马进行自动识别和三维分割,分别建立正常对照组和Ad组的海马统计形状模型,比较Ad组与正常对照组间海马形状的差异性。结果:海马三维分割方法与手动分割方法在海马体积测量上无统计学差别(P>0.05);Ad患者海马头部发生萎缩(P0.05).Hippocampal head atrophy was found in AD patients(P<0.05).Conclusions: Hippocampal three-dimensional segmentation and automatic identification method based on active appearance model in brain MR image is accurate and reliable;the feature of hippocampal head atrophy can be used as a basis for diagnosis of AD.哈尔滨医科大学研究生创新基金(HCXB2010019);国家自然科学基金(81071219

Elastic behaviour of titanium dioxide films on polyimide substrates studied by in situ tensile testing in a X-ray diffractometer

International audienceThe development of new devices has created needs of precision, conformal at the atomic level deposition of high quality thin film materials. In the last years, Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) has received much interest as a potential deposition method for advanced thin film structures. ALD presents several advantages: the film is excellently conformal and reproducible; the film thickness depends only on the number of reaction cycles, which makes the thickness control accurate and simple; the film can be deposited onto all kind of substrates. Because of the process slowness, layer thickness is generally less than 100 nm. This makes more difficult to study all characteristics of the coating. Thin layers deposited onto bulk substrates are generally in tensile or compressive stress state, which may significantly affect physical properties and possibly compromise their lifetime. To determine the residual stress it is mandatory to know the elastic constants that may also depend on the microstructure of the layers and thus the deposition process.In this work, 2D X-ray diffraction (XRD2) in combination with in situ tensile testing has been applied for the first time to measure elastic properties of TiO2 anatase films obtained by ALD. Experimental conditions, the tensile stage being installed in a laboratory micro-diffractometer equipped with a 2D image-plate detector, and the information that can be extracted from 2D diffraction patterns will be discussed. Based on these preliminary results, synchrotron radiation beam time has been allocated to study elastic properties of these thin films. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed laboratory equipment, with respect to the synchrotron beam lines, are discussed